Twins

Defense fails St. Paul Saints in loss to Nashville

The Twins' Class AAA affiliate committed a club-record five errors — three by Alex Kirilloff — in a one-sided home loss to the Sounds.

By Star Tribune staff

May 3, 2023 at 5:14AM

Twins first baseman Alex Kirilloff, above in spring training, made three errors on Tuesday playing the position for the St. Paul Saints on a rehab assignment. (Jerry Holt, Star Tribune/The Minnesota Star Tribune)

The St. Paul Saints committed a franchise-record five errors and allowed 10 runs with two outs in an 11-5 loss to the Nashville Sounds on Tuesday in front of 4,213 fans at CHS Field in St. Paul.

First baseman Alex Kirilloff had three of those errors (two fielding, one throwing) and Saints starter Aaron Sanchez was chased after just 2 ⅔ innings. He gave up four runs on five hits.

Mark Contreras went 2-for-3 with a double, home run and two RBI for the Saints (15-11). Keston Hiura led the way for Nashville (15-12), the Brewers Class AAA affiliate, going 2-for-4 with a double and a homer.

The second game of the six-game series is at 6:37 p.m. Wednesday.

U excels in classroom

Minnesota performed exceptionally well on its latest Academic Progress Rate (APR) scores released by the NCAA.

Five Gopher programs — baseball, men's cross country, men's golf, women's golf and gymnastics — earned a perfect 1,000 multiyear rate, which collects data from four academic years.

The Gophers also had eight programs earn a perfect APR score in the most recent reporting year, 2021-22: men's basketball, men's cross country, men's golf, women's golf, gymnastics, women's hockey, women's tennis and volleyball.

APR scores are determined by eligibility and retention for each student-athlete on scholarship during a specific academic year.

Etc.

Roger Kish, coach of the North Dakota State wrestling program for the past 12 seasons and a former Gophers wrestler, was named coach of the Oklahoma Sooners, a program with seven NCAA titles.
Junior golfer Ben Warian of the Gophers was named to the All-Big Ten second team and received the team's Big Ten sportsmanship award.
Augustana utility player Torri Chute, a junior who played for Stillwater High, and Minnesota Duluth junior Lauren Dixon were named the NSIC Player and Pitcher of the Year, respectively. Minnesota State Moorhead's Mike Armitage was named Coach of the Year. ... Chute also was named the Louisville Slugger/NFCA Division II player of the week after batting .556 over eight games.
Augustana lost 4-2 to Washburn in the second round of the NCAA Central Regional in women's tennis in Topeka, Kan. The Vikings end the season 21-4.
St. Catherine senior Kelsey Dorr was named the MIAC Singles Player of the Year in women's tennis. Carleton sophomore Tarm Rojanasoonthon received the same award on the men's side.
The Minnesota Golf Foundation, the charitable arm of the Minnesota Golf Association hired Matt Magers, of Mahtomedi, as its managing director.